Kernel memory leak via incomplete scheme teardown
Published Dec 4, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Memory leakage in the DAMON core in Linux allows attackers to retain allocated kernel memory through destruction of configured schemes. damon_destroy_scheme() frees entries in the filter list but omits entries in ops_filter, so their allocations remain after the scheme is released. The public record identifies no attacker-controlled path, and the documented user-space DAMON interface requires root permission to configure schemes.
Summary
What happened
Memory leakage in the DAMON core in Linux allows attackers to retain allocated kernel memory through destruction of configured schemes. damon_destroy_scheme() frees entries in the filter list but omits entries in ops_filter, so their allocations remain after the scheme is released. The public record identifies no attacker-controlled path, and the documented user-space DAMON interface requires root permission to configure schemes.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40229
- Published
- Dec 4, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 4, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.15
- Affected versionversion=ab82e57981d0e4cb46d2817e7b65b9d5fdcf3832 <7071537159be845a5c4ed5fb7d3db25aa4bd04a3
- Affected versionversion=ab82e57981d0e4cb46d2817e7b65b9d5fdcf3832 <ff8dcf621a4172f4a6d42cbbb25d21659d3ac300
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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